Verified Document

Managerial Prerogative Essay

Managerial Prerogative Has Gone Too Far? Whenever an organization is founded and the objectives for its existence have been established, the founders and management of said organization are expected to ensure the continuity, viability, and resilience of the enterprise. This is done via the allocation of needed resources (i.e. capital, human, financial, etc.) and formulation of strategies in order to achieved set and target organizational goals. Once operational, there are other duties, responsibilities, accountabilities, rights and privileges management can and must exercise to achieve continued operational success and efficiency. One of these management principles or concepts is known as managerial prerogative, which "includes the right to organize operations and methods of working, issue detailed instructions on the circumstances in which work is performed, and take in matters relating to working hours in so far as these are not rigidly regulated by collective agreement (Eurofound, 2009)." Often, managerial prerogative is institutionalized in organizational policies and protected by statutes and regulations. However, there have been cases whereby managerial prerogative has been abused or used to cover up the inefficiencies and poor decision-making of the powers that be in the organization. These cases are proofs that managerial prerogative has gone too far and need to be curtailed before it cause undue harm to the organization and the members therein or to the point of breaking the law.

Managerial prerogative is a right and privilege of any employer to regulate all aspects of the organization, but like all rights and privileges, it is not absolute. Further, since managerial prerogative is protected by statues and regulations, "it follows that [it] extends only to constitutionally permissible managerial objectives (Rosenthal, 2008, p. 39)." Aside from the protection...

105)." Certainly, if this prerogative is not exercised by the management of the organization and the entity falters, then those at the helm thereof are responsible and answerable should the organization goes down. But as earlier mentioned, managerial prerogative as an employer right and privilege is not absolute. For instance, it is not possible for an employee to place at another person's disposal or surrender, through the contract of employment, his or her essential personal fundamental rights as granted constitutionally. These essential rights apply, inter alia, to life, health and, to a certain extent, personal liberty. (Eurofound, 2009) Thus, management in any organization should do well to know the limits to their managerial prerogative to avoid brushing with certain provisions of the law. Unfortunately, managerial prerogative has been used several times as an excuse to the decisions made by and in the organization.
By using managerial prerogative in covering up for some decisions made, it is clear that an abuse has taken place and the use of the right has gone too far. For instance, it is not unheard of especially during economic crisis or recession to lay-off employees to "supposedly" ensure the continuity of the business. When this decision by management is questioned, the first defense management puts up is that "it is a management prerogative to do so!" Whenever radical changes are instituted in an organization and the changes are faced with resistance; instead of managing the resistance, the response would always be "management prerogative." In such circumstances, both human nature and…

Sources used in this document:
Bibliography:

Bado, J. & Logue, J. (1991). Hard hats and hard decisions: The evolving role in employee-owned firms. Employee Ownership Law and Finance, 4: 1-19. Retrieved May 13, 2011 from http://dept.kent.edu/oeoc/OEOCLibrary/Preprints/BadoLogueHardHatsAndHardDecisions1991.pdf

Ellis, A. (2008). The strain between managerial prerogative and contractual principles in English labour law. Retrieved May 13, 2011 from http://www.workplacebullying.co.uk/manperog.html

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound). (2009, August 14). Limits to the employer's managerial prerogative. Retrieved May 13, 2011 from http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/emire/FINLAND/ANCHOR-DIREKTIOVALLANRAJATGR-Auml-NSERNAF-Ouml-RDIREKTIONSR-Auml-TT-FI.htm

Greenfield, K. (2008). Reclaiming corporate law in a new gilded age. Harvard Law & Policy Review. Retrieved May 13, 2011 from http://www.hlpronline.com/Greenfield_HLPR.pdf
Lazonick, W. (1990). Organizational capabilities in American industry: The rise and decline of managerial capitalism. Business and Economic History, Second Series, 19: 35-54. Retrieved May 13, 2011 from http://www.h-net.org/~business/bhcweb/publications/BEHprint/v019/p0035-p0054.pdf
Riccucci, N.M. & Thompson, F.J. (2007). The new public management, homeland security, and the politics of civil service reform. Retrieved May 13, 2011 from http://www.pmranet.org/conferences/AZU2007/ArizonaPapers/Riccucci_%26_Thompson_2007.pdf
Rosenthal, L. (2008, October). The emerging first amendment law of managerial prerogative. Fordham Law Review, 77: 33-113. Retrieved May 13, 2011 from http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=lawrence_rosenthal
Townsend, K., Wilkinson, A., & Burgess, J. (2011). Filling the gaps: Patterns of formal and informal voice. Retrieved May 13, 2011 from http://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/293856/FILLING-THE-GAPS-7-3-11.pdf
Wheeler, H.N., Klaas, B.S., & Mahony, D.M. (2004). Workplace justice in the United States: An introduction. Retrieved May 13, 2011 from http://research.upjohn.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1048&context=up_bookchapters
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Employment Relations Assess the Impact
Words: 4081 Length: 10 Document Type: Essay

Some unions and their federations, however, presently have notable welfare programs, including human services. As of 2007, there were more than 10 million union members in Japan, and the organizational rate was 18.1%. The members were two thirds the number but 1.5 times the rate of those in the United States. Japanese union's mission is to be "maintaining and improving the conditions of work and raising the economic status

Elites in Engineering in the
Words: 11890 Length: 40 Document Type: Dissertation

Engineers should focus on the improvement of the performance of the economy. This relates to the transformation of the theories of controlling the world and adopting new frameworks in the operating in conjunction with the planet. New engineers need to adopt and implement new theories of focusing on the economic, social, and political concepts in relation to both technical and nontechnical disciplines (Cameron 2010 p.40). Leaders in British Engineering According to

Analyzing Preferred and Common Stock
Words: 998 Length: 2 Document Type: Research Paper

Stock Common vs. Preferred Stock Preferred and common stocks are different in two key aspects. Firstly, stockholders who are preferred have a bigger claim to organizational earnings and assets. This holds true in good times, i.e., when the firm possesses excess money and decides upon distributing it as dividends to company financiers. In such cases, during distributions, preferred stockholders are to be paid prior to common stockholders. But the claim of preferred

Challenger Launch Decision
Words: 2891 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

Challenger Launch Decision JOE KILMINSTER'S ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE CHALLENGER DISASTER On January 28, 1986, the Challenger, one of the reusable space shuttle by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA, was launched off at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida but exploded 72 seconds after liftoff. The launch was approved and ordered by the management of the Morton Thiokol, Inc., an aerospace company, that manufactures solid propellant

Challenging the Beijing Consensus China Foreign Policy in the 21st...
Words: 24240 Length: 60 Document Type: Dissertation or Thesis complete

Foreign Policy of China (Beijing consensus) Structure of Chinese Foreign Policy The "Chinese Model" of Investment The "Beijing Consensus" as a Competing Framework Operational Views The U.S.-China (Beijing consensus) Trade Agreement and Beijing Consensus Trading with the Enemy Act Export Control Act. Mutual Defense Assistance Control Act Category B Category C The 1974 Trade Act. The Operational Consequences of Chinese Foreign Policy The World Views and China (Beijing consensus) Expatriates The Managerial Practices Self Sufficiency of China (Beijing consensus) China and western world: A comparison The China (Beijing

Corporate Governance As Some Queries About Corporate
Words: 5545 Length: 16 Document Type: Term Paper

Corporate Governance As some queries about corporate governance were there ever since 1932 - the period of Berle and Means, the expression of the concept of Corporate Governance was not found in English vocabulary until 25 years ago. However, in the previous two decades, matters relating to corporate governance have gained importance in academic literature as well as in public policy deliberations. Corporate governance came to be acknowledged as being synonymous

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now